Baby panties



June 1, 1943. w. s. JOPSON 2,320,458

BABY PANTIES Filed July 50, 1942 Zinnentor (I torneg Patented June 1, 1943 BABY PAN TIES William S. Jopson, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada,

assignor to Beauty Industries, Limited, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, a corporation of Canada Application July 30, 1942, Serial No. 452,963 In Canada July 2, 1942 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in baby panties of thetype fabricated of impermeable material for protectingly covering the diaper.

Formerly these garments were formed of sheet rubber or like material under various trade names, and were built on a rather small scale so they would elastically stretch when fitted over the diaper about the loins of theinfant and close snugly on the diaper. More recently such garments have been made of impermeable fabrics as a substitute for total rubber. In the latter form, however, because of the inelasticity of the material the garment had to be made large enough to be drawn over the diaper with the result that when in position it presented an unsightly, baggy or deformed appearance. Moreover, the waist and leg openings had to be marginally gathered and bound with elastic rubber in orderto conform to the respective body parts, which in effect increased the bagginess of the garment.

The present invention consists of a' tailored or full fashioned garment comprised entirely of inelastic impermeable fabric, with the principal object of producing with the use of such material and wholly without the use of rubber, an attractive form fitting garment for the purpose specified.

Another important object is to provide a garment of the class described which by its novel design is capable of being folded along its seams to a perfectly flat form for store display and other purposes and in such a manner that its utilitarian identity as distinguishable by its configuration is concealed, and the effect attractive.

Still another important object is to provide an article of the character specified which will be simple, durable, and inexpensive to produce.

With the above and other objects in view as will be hereinafter apparent, the invention consists in general of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawing like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of baby panties constructed in accordance with this invention and as they appear when worn.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front view of the panties when collapsed to a certain fiat form.

- Figure 4 is a cross-section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a front view of the garment as it is folded for packaging, and for store and window display.

Figure 6 is a cross-section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure '7 is the pattern of the front and back pieces of the garment.

Figure 8 is the pattern of one of the side pieces.

In its present embodiment the invention consists of the main piece of material shown in pattern and cut substantially as in Figure 7, folded on a lateral median crotch crease iii to form front and back pieces Ii and I2, respectively. One of the side pieces I3 is shown in pattern in'Flgure 8. A side piece l3 on each side of the garment unites the front and back pieces II and i2 by stitching the parts together. That. is to say, the forward edge M of the left (wearers left) side piece i3 is stitched to the left edge l5 of the front piece I I and the back edge It of the side piece is stitched to the left edge ll of the back piece 12. Similarly, the forward edge 18 of the right side piece 19 is stitched to the right edge 2!] of the front piece and the back edge 2| of the right side piece I9 is stitched to the right edge 22 of the back piece l2.

The upper edges 23 of the front piece ll, 24 of the back piece I2, 25 of the left side piece l3, and 26 of the right side piece l9 unite to form the waist opening of the garment, which is bound by tapes 21.

Arcuate edges 28 in the front and back pieces II, l2, unite with the arcuate lower edges 29 of the side pieces to form leg openings 30. The upper portions of the edges l5 and 20 of the front piece H are notched as at 3|, and, the upper edges l4 and I8 of the side pieces similarly are notched as at 32. The notched portions of these edges are not stitched together as are the lower portions so that gaps 33 are left between them in order that the girth of the banded waist opening may be adjustable. The ends of the tapes 21 extend beyond the terminations of the waist portions and with these extending ends knots 34 are tied after the waist portions have been adjustingly drawn together about the waist of the infant.

It is to be noted that the curvature of the edges l5l'l and 20-22 of the pattern forming the front and back pieces of the garment convergingly progress toward its extremities, which latter are truncated by the waist edges 23 and 24. Similarly, it will be observed that the edges I4 and I6 of the side pieces are curved in conformity to the curved edges of the front and back pieces. When these complemental edges are stitched together in l the manner previously specified it is the curvature of these edges which produces the ballooning of the garment when worn in order to snugly cover the diaper, at the same time presenting a pleasing appearance as well indicated in Figures 1 and 2. The manner in which the form fitting or ballooning effect is produced is evident by reference to Figures 3 and 4. In these figures the garment is shown in a collapsed or a flattened state, the front and back pieces lying inside face to inside face and the side pieces being folded on themselves. In this position it will be observed that the seams of the pieces are forced out of the general plane and together extend from the rest of the garment as fin-like or vane-like projections 35. These projections belly out as the garment is fitted for wear.

The manner in which a garment is merchandised or displayed for sale is an important consideration. Heretofore there was nothing that could be said to be esthetic about the appearance of baby panties. While worn they were merely a wrinkled unshapely covering for the diaper. While unworn they were merely a flaccid amorphous mass of material. They were not what could be properly termed a garment. They were simply a utility to be concealed whenever possible, worn or unworn.

The panties as developed by the present invention are a garment of relative beauty when worn, when displayed or shown for sale, or when folded after the laundry. When properly folded they are not only appealing to the eye but their idenwardly, so that they fold on themselves along the line 36 (oppositely to the fold in Figure 3) and lie flat between the front and back pieces, the entire garment then being in a perfectly flat and smooth state as seen in Figure 6.

There has thus been provided a simple and efficient device of the kind described and for the purpose specified.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, therefore, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

I claim:

A garment of the class described constructed of impermeable material consisting of front and back pieces united at a substantially wide crotch line and having curved lateral edges generally converging from said crotch line, left and right side pieces having curved lateral edges, the curved edges of the front and back pieces and the curved edges of the side pieces being disposed in opposing convex relation and secured together in their respective positions to form together the front, back and sides of the garment, all of said curved edges combining to form a ballooned garment, the bottom corners of the front and back pieces having arcuate notches and the bottom of the side pieces an arcuate notch extending clear across the piece, said notches in their respective positions combining to form the leg openings of the garment, the upper edges of the front and back pieces and those of the side pieces in their respective positions combining to form the Waist opening of the garment, the side pieces being readily foldable on crease lines intermediate their edges and disposed between the front and back pieces when the front and back pieces are lying fiat in superposed relation, as when the garment is not in use.

WILLIAM S. JOPSON. 

